A typical dump site shanty in Tondo, Manila.
By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
and
PERCY A OSTONAL
THE YEAR 2013 marked the Philippines' record setting economic
growth.
As the “Latest News On Philippine Economy” reported on its
website, "The Philippine economy defied the economic slowdown in large
parts of Asia to grow at a higher than expected annual rate 7.5% in the second
quarter of 2013, riding on a resilient service sector and buoyant consumer and
public spending".
While CNN reported that “the Philippine economy grew 7.1 % during
the quarter - the fastest growth in two
years and the fastest pace in Asia next to China -- a strong sign that the
Southeast Asian economy is building domestic growth rather than relying on
exports”.
Wikipedia (Free Encyclopedia) on the other hand, has this to say:
"The economy of the Philippines is the 40th largest in the world,
according to 2012 International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics and is also one
of the emerging markets in the world.
“The Philippines is considered as a newly-industrialized country,
which has been transitioning from being one based on agriculture to one based
more on services and manufacturing.
The site also said: “According to HSBC (Hong Kong Shanghai Banking
Corporation), the Philippine economy will become the 16th largest economy in
the world, 5th largest economy in Asia and the largest economy in the Southeast
Asia region by 2050.
Primary exports include semi-conductors, and electronic products,
transport, equipment, garments, copper products, petroleum products coconut oil
and fruits.
Major trading partners include the US, Japan, China , Singapore,
South Korea, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan and Thailand.
The Philippines has been named one of the tiger cub economy
together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
It is currently one of Asia's fastest growing economies.
“However, major problems remain, mainly having to do with widening
income and growth disparities between the country's different regions and
socio-economic classes, difficulty in reducing corruption and investing in the
infrastructure necessary to ensure future growth.”
Offshoring and outsourcing
CALL centers, which began in the Philippines as plain providers of
email response and managing services, are now a major source of employment.
Call center services include customers relations, ranging from
travel services, technical support, education, customer care, financial
services, online business to customer support, and online business to business
support.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is regarded as one of the
fastest growing industries in the world.
The Philippines is also considered as location of choice due to
its many outsourcing benefits such as less expensive operational and labor
costs and high proficiency in spoken English and highly educated labor pool.
In 2011, the Business Process Outsourcing industry in the
Philippines generated 700,000 jobs and some US$11 billion in revenue, which was
24% higher versus that of 2010’s.
By 2016, the industry is projected to reach USS27.4 billion in
revenue, with employment generation to almost double at 1.3 million workers.
(Information stated above courtesy of “Latest News on Philippine
Economy” website and Wikipedia [Free encyclopedia] website.)
AS CO-FOUNDERS of Mambulaoans Worldwide Buzz (MWBuzz), your online
news tunnel, we share the same vision of hope and aspirations and that is to
see that investment in employable education expands.
We recently received a YouTube video of a Philippine documentary
from someone who was obviously touched by what he saw from the video.
The documentary, which was titled The Definitions of Lower, Upper
and Middle Classes, (http://youtu.be/kiyMPeJUFlM) noted two families of differing economic
status telling of poignant stories in their lives.
One lives in Manila's poorest neighborhood of Tondo while the
middle class family was re-evaluating the future of their son and newly-born
daughter.
But both shared the same vision of hope and aspiration and that is
to make investment in right "employable" education”.
Jennilyn Flores, a 24-year-old single who lives with her mother, a
married sister and her family candidly said: “Someday, I will get out of this
kind of place when I have my college education.
“I don't want to be like them (referring to the Tondo dump site
neighborhood and the trash-scavenging life of the people) and as my father had
said before he died: ‘Don't forget to look after the family’.”
With six children and another one coming, Rosalie and Eduardo had
to make do with P1,010.00 (roughly US$
22.95) they earned every two days of work.
And yet all they think of was "awa ito ni Lord".
“Sana ang mga anak namin ay hindi na tumulad sa amin na maraming
anak … at sana makatapos silang lahat ng pag-aaral. (Lord's blessings, and we
are hoping our children would not follow in our footsteps with having lots of
children and we’re looking forward that they all earn their proper education.),
Rosalie said.
For Gino and Rose, who both came from modest-earning families, it
was their dream to excel after school and to be rewarded with good jobs later.
“I see the future of our children with so much optimism … the
opportunity we look forward to provide good and proper education.”
To the couple, this is the priority.
(Transcript of statements from persons in the story [Ms Jennilyn
Flores, Rosalie and Eduardo , Gino and Rose]
were all taken from the YouTube video of the Philippine documentary: The
Definitions of Lower, Middle and Upper Classes.)
Email us: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg
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